Giannis Antetokounmpo names Celtics' star forward the best player in the NBA

For his part, Giannis sees a Celtics forward in this role. “I think the best player is the one who wins a championship, wins everything and is the best player for his team. So the best player in the NBA is probably Jaylen Brown,” the Bucks forward explained, via Lauren Campbell of MassLive. Is it a shot at co-star on Boston's wing, Jayson Tatum? Psyops a la Jason Kidd in the 2024 final? Or a serious assessment of who he really thinks is the best player? We're leaning on the latter based on the rest of his quote from this interview.

“You can’t say you’re the best player if you play in a team that didn’t win,” he added. “It doesn’t matter if you have the MVP or are All-NBA. If you don’t get your team to win, it’s not the best thing.”

“Last year Jokic was the best player in the world. And before that it was Steph Curry, the best player in the world,” Antetokounmpo further clarified. “And before that it was Giannis Antetokounmpo, the No. 1 player in the world.”